Seeing black also has its good sides as Chronoswiss now proves with new case variations on some well-loved timepieces: the skeletonized automatic chronographs Opus Chronograph and Grand Opus Chronograph are now available in black. Behind the mysterious “darkening” is an innovative coating that goes by the name of Dianoir®, which is based on pure carbon and belongs to the family of diamond-like carbon, known in the industry as DLC.

Different from many commercially available coatings that are physically created from a gas in a vacuum chamber using chemical reaction (PE-CVD) or through condensation (PVD), the DLC coating Chronoswiss uses called Dianoir® is the result of a novel, patented process. Using a pulsating ray of light, a plasma is created in a vacuum environment that is aimed at the substrate to be coated. Thus, a much higher amount of diamond is created that produces more than double the hardness of the coating: more than 5,000 HV (Vickers) in contrast to the hardness created in the usual process that ends up at 2,500 HV.

Chronoswiss Opus Chronograph Black

It was not only the extremely robust and high-quality character of the ultrahard coating that prompted Chronoswiss to use it, but also its exceptional aesthetic qualities: the transparency of the skeletonized models in their new “light” seems almost like black magic, opening a totally new perspective into the inside of the black case for the observer—a new dimension of mechanics. So that the signs of the times cannot be overseen, the hands are painted bright red and/or luminous white.

Chronoswiss Grand Opus Chronograph Black

This innovative coating of diamond-like carbon lends the Grand Opus Chronograph and Opus Chronograph models a fully new look—the “dark side” of the fascination of mechanics.